Signs of the Times, Vol. 31, No. 10. (3/8/1905)

Signs of the Times

Mar 8, 1905

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · Mar 8, 1905

Pacific Press Publishing Company

Pacific Press Publishing Company, Mountain View, Cal.

ENOUGH FOR ME

Whence Jesus came I can not tell, Nor why He came to me; One thing I know and know it well, Tho I was blind, I see! I once was blind, but now I see! And that is news enough for me.

When all was dark, One touched my eyes, And that is all I know; For light came down from Paradise And set my soul aglow; I once was blind, but now I see! And that is light enough for me.

How it was done I can not say Nor even think, nor dream; Nor why a touch of moistened clay Should make things what they seem. I once was blind, but now I see! And that is truth enough for me.

It is the Son of God! His grace Makes trembling weakness strong; Wipes tears away from sorrow's face, And teaches grief a song. I once was blind, but now I see! And that is joy enough for me.

The law of sight I may not guess, Nor reason out my views; For faith itself is meaningless To Pharisees and Jews. I once was blind, but now I see! And that is faith enough for me. —Anon.

Terms of Subscription.

By Editor

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SPECIAL TERMS.

By Editor

1. One new yearly subscription and one renewal, or two new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $2.50.

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3. Three new yearly subscriptions and one renewal, or four new yearly subscriptions, sent at one time, $4.00.

Sample copies sent on application.

ANNUAL MEETING NOTICE.

THE Third Annual Meeting of the Pacific Union Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association, for the purpose of electing seven directors and transacting any other business that may properly come before the meeting, will be held on Wednesday, March 8th, 1905, at 12 o'clock M., at room 203 Parrott Building, San Francisco, Cal.

W. R. SIMMONS, President. E. E. PARLIN, Secretary.

ANNUAL MEETING NOTICE.

The Third Annual Meeting of the Sanitarium Food Company, for the purpose of electing seven directors and transacting any other business that may properly come before the meeting, will be held at Sanitarium, Napa County, Cal., on Thursday, March 9th, 1905, at 12 o'clock M.

L. M. BOWEN, President. E. E. PARLIN, Secretary.

HOW TO LIVE.

Under the above heading would be classed the idealized "Study of the Human Body." A book of 350 pages, by F. M. Rossiter, M. D. and Mary H. Rossiter, A. M. Altho written for the young, it appeals to every age. The style is clear, forceful, unaffected. Sometimes it rises to poetic beauty, sometimes it is graced by a touch of humor. The wonderful story of the human dwelling is told with a rarely sympathetic charm and power. The prosaic words "Anatomy," "Physiology" and "Hygiene" never enter your mind.

Price, $1.00 post-paid, Address Pacific Press, Mountain View, Cal.

A Letter from R. G. W. Collins

By R. G. W. Collins

SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Mountain View, Cal.

Please to send the SIGNS to its old friend as long as the currency lasts. It is hard to live in poverty, but harder still to get along without the good old SIGNS, the only publication that brought us from infidelity into the light of truth. And now that our eyes are growing dim with the mists of years, we prize it still more. Please date us back a month or so, if possible.

Sincerely yours, R. G. W. COLLINS.

Formerly 1st. Seargt. "S" Troop, "Army of the Potomac."

CO-OPERATION CORNER.

By Editor

THE Young People's Society of one of our prominent cities desires twenty-five copies of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES for use in its missionary work. The members find themselves unable to pay for the same, however. If there are those who desire to assist them, kindly send remittance for same to SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Mountain View, Cal.

PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING COMPANY

MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA

Things New and Old

By Editor

THE CONFLICT BETWEEN CAPITAL AND LABOR

THAT there is a mighty conflict now on, and many battles yet to be fought by the forces of organized capital and organized labor, must be apparent to all observing men and women. Each succeeding year the conflict grows more fierce; and intelligent, thinking people are becoming alarmed at the outlook. The various combines and organizations are rapidly reaching out and embracing all kinds of people, trades and professions, and sooner or later will affect every individual.

What relation we shall sustain to these two great world forces is of vital importance to us.

Mr. E. T. Russell has just written a book under the above title which sheds much light on this troublesome question. He writes altogether from a non-partisan standpoint, treating both sides of the vexing problem with a view of helping to its peaceable solution. Not only are many interesting facts and figures given, but divinely revealed principles are set forth that will help us to meet the great question intelligently, and surely produce harmony if heeded.

The book is illustrated, contains 167 pages, and the price is only 50 cents.

Story of Daniel the Prophet

A study of one of the most remarkable lives of the Bible, by S. N. Haskell. The lessons drawn from Daniel's character—his integrity, his devotion to duty, his steadfastness in adhering to true principles in the face of the greatest apparent danger—are most striking, encouraging and helpful. Not only this, but the wonderful things foretold by the prophet are clearly portrayed, and the time of their application determined.

As the practised eye of the prospector discovers the gems of earth and readily discerns their value, so the writer has found the sparkling beauties in the life and character of this man of God, as well as the interpretation of the marvelous things foretold by him, in which is the key that unlocks history to the end of time.

The book is illustrated, and arranged in a manner to please and profit both old and young.

Three hundred and sixty-nine pages. Price, $1.00.

Power for Witnessing

One of the books that ever keeps fresh and new is the one with the above title. It endeavors to tell, not so much what the Holy Spirit is, as to illustrate by live experiences why we need it, and what it will do for us. Among the many good chapters we note the following: Something to Tell; Righteousness, Then Power; The Holy Spirit and the Unpardonable Sin; Secret of Rejoicing in Tribulation; How to Find Faith; The Laying On of Hands; Miracles and Healing; How to Seek Spiritual Gifts.

The truth concerning the Holy Spirit is unfolded in such clearness, beauty and simplicity, as will surely impart a new inspiration with the many practical suggestions and experiences given.

Two hundred and one pages, 44 chapters. Price, cloth, 75 cents; paper covers, 25 cents.

The Vegetarian Cook Book

For those who are looking for a better dietary than can be prepared from the flesh of animals, which is very liable to be contaminated with tuberculosis and various other diseases, we most heartily recommend the "Vegetarian Cook Book." It contains a large variety of thoroughly tested recipes of healthful dishes, and is so systematically arranged that any class of food or any particular dish may readily be referred to.

The book is the product of years of thought, experiment and observation of Mr. E. G. Fulton, manager of the Vegetarian Cafe, San Francisco.

Two hundred and sixty-five pages. About 450 recipes. Price, 75 cents.

Healthful Living

This book, on the fundamental principles of healthful living, is also going out rapidly. It contains, in convenient form, for ready reference, a large number of helpful suggestions on the subject of health and how to preserve it.

Two hundred and ninety-two pages. Price, 50 cents.

Sabbath Readings

This little volume is having a remarkable sale of late, and it is certainly deserving of such, for its pages are filled with a very choice selection of helpful, inspiring stories. The pure tone and elevating influence of this class of reading will commend itself to you as filling a useful place in the home, and will interest old and young.

The price now is 40 cents.

Bibles

We keep in stock a select line of Bibles of such standard makes as the Oxford, International and Nelson. Our stock has just lately been increased by the addition of something over a thousand of the various makes, styles and prices. A new feature just added is a line of illustrated Bibles for children, also a line of Red Letter Bibles and Testaments, containing all the words of our Saviour in red letters. A decided novelty is the Red Letter—illustrated Testament combined. We also have a choice stock of the American Standard Revised Bibles, which are becoming very popular.

We feel confident that we can please you in make, style, size and price.

Send for our latest Bible catalog and price-list.

THE GOSPEL IN GEN. 3:15.

AFTER the serpent had been used as a medium of Satan to deceive our mother Eve, the Lord pronounced this sentence: "Because thou hast done this, thou are cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly thou shalt go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life; and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel." Gen. 3:14, 15. Here is the first proclamation of the Gospel that we have on record; the first, because it had not been necessary before.

It is evident that the serpent was a very different creature before the curse was pronounced upon it, from what it is now. The sentence, "Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat," indicates that it did not move about in that way originally, nor was its food of that degrading character. Moreover, "the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made."

Verse 1. One of the definitions of "subtle," or "subtle," is "acute in mind." Therefore, the serpent, besides being more comely in appearance, was more intelligent before the curse came upon it than afterward. Inasmuch as it was the most intelligent of all earthly creatures, excepting man, it is fair to suppose that it was also the most attractive. And these peculiar endowments would naturally cause the tempter to select it for his medium in the temptation of the woman.

The sentence, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed," etc., had a double significance, and is working out in a double fulfilment. Almost without exception, the descendants of Eve have an inborn aversion to the serpent in all its multiplied varieties. There is an occasional human freak who, for the sake of notoriety or pecuniary gain, will fraternize in a familiar way with the hideous reptiles, but such people usually pay dearly in the end for their temerity or foolhardiness. Even those who worship the vicious creatures, do so because of their dread that the species will do them harm if they incur the wrath of one. Such worship is of the character of devil worship—a sentiment born solely of dread, rather than reverence.

On the other hand, the woman stands for the church smitten by the adversary, and the serpent stands for Satan, the adversary, whose medium it was. The Lord put enmity between His church and her would-be destroyer; this enmity is the light of the Gospel truth. It is a "Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world" (John 1:9); a Light which, if followed, will enable every one to know the true character of the adversary, and to avoid his wiles. The endowment of every one in this respect is sufficient to leave him without excuse in the event of his going after strange gods (Rom. 1:18-21).

Christ is the Seed of the woman that shall finally bruise the "serpent's" (the adversary's) head. Satan is continually striking his vicious fangs into the heel of the church. He can vex and annoy by his persecutions, but he can not destroy. He could even put to death for the moment the Head of the church, but through that very thing, and the subsequent resurrection, she won a glorious victory, and the assurance of final triumph. Satan could not have achieved even that momentary appearance of victory at the cross had not the Son of God, the Seed of the "woman," chosen to lay down His life as a ransom for all the victims of Satan's deception. This ransom price was paid in purpose in the beginning, so that it was just as available to Adam and all his descendants before the cross as it has been since. Christ "tasted death for every man." Heb. 2:9.

Christ will eventually destroy the adversary, known as "that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan." The Son of God was manifested "to destroy the works of the devil." 1 John 3:8. He assumed flesh and blood "that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil." Heb. 2:14. The devil and his angels understand this (Matt. 8:28, 29), and Revelation 20 tells of the consummation. It is this deliverance of the church from the grasp of her enemy, and his final overthrow, that is assured to the woman in Gen. 3:15. G.

LIFE—ITS GIVER; ITS LAWS.

LIFE, not what it is; for it is here as well as its dread opposite, death. We will not pause to speculate on the mystery of life; but rather the kind of life and its continuance.

Most persons love life; and, most of all, they love continuance in life, with but little thought, generally, as to the manner of the life. They desire quantity rather than quality, persistence rather than perfectness.

Our study shall be based upon the Scriptures, and we take for our starting-point the following words from the American Standard Revised Version:

"If any man hath not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwelleth in you, He that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that dwelleth in you.

"So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh; for if ye live after the flesh, ye must die; but if by the Spirit ye put to death the deeds of the body, ye shall live." Rom. 8:9-13.

It demands no close or exacting study of the above scripture to see that there are two lives, two ways of living, presented.

The one is expressed by "the Spirit of Christ," "Christ in you," "the Spirit is life," "The Spirit of Him . . . dwelleth in you," "shall give life," "ye shall live."

The other is expressed by the terms, "the body is dead," "live after the flesh," "deeds of the body," etc.

But is there more than one life? Is not all life one? Is not the source of life one?

Have not all living creatures—rock and tree and bird and beast and man—the same life?

Is it true, as expressed by Sir Thomas Browne, that "life is a pure flame, and we live by an invisible sun within us"?

Is it true that life is God, and that God is within every living creature, variously expressed as "the divine immanence," "the divine self within," and other terms more or less emphatic, some writers expressing it so strongly that they declare of themselves in bold capitals, "I AM"?

Or is the quality of life dependent upon the law of its reception and the use men make of it?

These are vitally-important questions in these days of multiplied isms, false philosophies, "science falsely so-called," and speculative delusions. Let us briefly consider some of the elemental facts set forth in the Scriptures, and open to every-day observance in the light of common sense:

1. The source of all life is one, namely, God, the great Jehovah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. "With Thee is the fountain of life" (Ps. 36:9); "in Him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28).

2. He who lives in glory transcendent and supernal, in the great Central Heaven, has been pleased to give this life to all His creatures through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. "For as the Father hath life in Himself, even so gave He to the Son also to have life in Himself." John 5:26. "For in Him [the Son] were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things have been created through Him, and unto Him; and He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. And He is the Head of the body, the church." Col. 1:16-18, A. R. V., margin.

3. By the power of His life all things were created. By the out-flowing from the great Central Fountain is the universe supplied; for "He Himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things" Acts 17:25.

4. But this Being of life is also a Being of law. "Jehovah hath established His throne in the heavens; and His kingdom ruleth over all." Ps. 103:19. Where life flows, law is operative. He ruleth over all; He giveth life to all; and He therefore giveth life in harmony with law.

5. His own perfect plan knows only righteous law and eternal, endless life, the life in consonance with the law of righteousness; for "in the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death." Prov. 12:28. Constant harmony with righteous law means endless persistence in fulness of life.

6. But the perfect life was amenable to different laws, in harmony with the varied creation of God. The mineral has its law of formation and crystallization, and each mineral a law peculiar to itself. The various salts have each their peculiar crystals. If these crystals be dissolved, and the water be allowed to evaporate under proper conditions, crystallization will immediately take place, each salt appropriating the life according to the law of its own being. Each plant in the vegetable kingdom has its own peculiar law, placed therein by the Creator. By that law the inflowing life is regulated and used. Growth is produced, flower and seed follow; and the seed always produces its kind.

In the animal kingdom the same law obtains. Each species has its own law. Each animal perpetuates its kind, Darwinism to the contrary notwithstanding. The gulf has not been bridged between the species, the "missing link" is still missing. Men breed hybrids and mules and monstrosities, but, thanks to the God of law, the hybrids do not persist.

The horse was created horse, and is horse still. The robin was created robin, and is robin still. Man was created man, and is the more or less degenerate man still.

7. But man is subject, not only to law, but laws. He receives life from the great Fountain through different channels. As an animal, he receives it from the food he eats, from the water he drinks, from the air he breathes, as truly as does the horse, or the ox, but normally, always according to the law of his physical being. The God-given power of law, and the inflowing life, takes the vegetable and transmutes it into flesh and blood and bone and nerve. But this does not feed the moral, spiritual man. The spiritual man must have life through another channel, in harmony with a higher law. The law, in the nature of the case, must be the reflect of God's character. For He commands man to be holy as He is holy, perfect as He is perfect. Lev. 19:2; 1 Peter 1:16; Gen. 17:1; Matt. 5:48. And the spiritual law which He has given is summarily comprehended in the Decalogue, coming to sinful man in a largely negative and prohibitive form, but to the child of God as enabling acts in Jesus Christ, comprehended in the two great principles of love to God and man. Therefore the law of man's spiritual life is God's all-comprehensive, spiritual law, and the eternal life of God is only received as man's will and heart and mind are perfectly yielded to that law.

That law, therefore, becomes the great test of all other laws, of all lives. It is the one Voice by which all other voices are to be tested.

Sinful man's relation to that law and the life of God will be considered in our next.

Manuscript Submission Instructions

By Editor

All Manuscript should be addressed to the Editor. For further information see page 2.

MILTON C. WILCOX, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - EDITOR.

C. M. SNOW, } - - ASSISTANT EDITORS. W. N. GLENN, }

CONFESSION OR DENIAL.

IN all the acts of life, in the things we say and think, as well as in what we do, we are confessing or denying the Man who is to confess or deny us in the final judgment.

In spite of this fact, how thoughtlessly, how recklessly, we go on doing, saying, and thinking things we would give more than all we could ever possess here, if we could have them stricken from the records of that final Court. Heaven is long patient, and we have come to consider this virtue a weakness—or so our acts indicate.

Christ Himself, in whom lies our only hope of salvation, has made this plain statement of the matter: "Every one therefore who shall confess Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before men, him will I also deny before My Father who is in heaven." Matt. 10:32, 33. This must be so in the nature of the case; for those who will not confess Him are those who are out of harmony with His rule of righteousness. Consequently, whether they affirm their position or not, they are adherents of the cause of God’s enemy. As such, they would bring into His realm the very same principles that turned an Eden into a wilderness, and made this earth a plague-spot in the universe. God can not perpetuate sin; so He can not perpetuate that which is out of harmony with His character; and so Christ can not confess those who refuse to confess Him. If we continue to do what we know to be out of harmony with the character and commands of God, we know of our own selves whether we have reason to expect confession or denial from Him.

But there will be those whom Christ will confess (Luke 12:8) before His Father and before His angels. This confession takes place before Christ comes to execute judgment upon those who have, in their lives and in their words, denied Him. In His confession of these He owns them as His, as the purchase of His blood, as the fruit of His life and death and travail of soul.

"The time is come," says the apostle, "for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?" 1 Peter 4:17, 18. And again we read: "Some men's sins are evident, going before unto judgment; and some men also they follow after." 1 Tim. 5:24. It is evident that they whose sins go before them to judgment are they who have confessed Christ here in their lives and by their words, and who have been in turn confessed by Him before His Father and His angels; for in confessing Him, they have necessarily confessed their sins. His life and death were both for the remission of sins that have been confessed. That is why Peter, in his fearless sermon at Solomon’s Porch, declared to the wondering Jews: "Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out . . . and that He may send the Christ who hath been appointed for you, even Jesus; whom the heavens must receive until the times of the restoration of all things." Acts 3:19-21.

We find that they who have stood for Christ and His work—who have therefore confessed their sins, and Christ as their Saviour—have had their names entered upon the record books of heaven as candidates for immortality. To this, Paul refers in his letter to the Philippians, when speaking of his fellow workers, "whose names are in the book of life." Phil. 4:3. The Revelator, speaking through John to the churches, refers to the same thing in these words: "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels." Rev. 3:5. And again in these words: "And there shall in nowise enter into it anything unclean, or he that maketh an abomination and a lie; but only they that are written in the Lamb’s book of life." Rev. 21:27.

The prerequisite, then, to an entrance into the eternal City of God, is having our names engrossed upon the pages of the Lamb’s book of life. Only such are confessed by our Saviour before the court of heaven; for such only does His blood atone. But there are found in that book only the names of those who have confessed Christ here. So belief in, and confession of, Christ in life and words here is the prerequisite of the engrossing of our names upon the pages of that book.

The apostle’s question—"What shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?"—is answered in Rev. 20:15: "And if any was not found written in the book of life, he was cast into the lake of fire." In designating who would be found unworthy to enter the City of God and dwell with Him eternally, the Revelator declares: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him [that power represented by the "beast"], whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Such are represented by the "unprofitable servant," who, the Saviour declares, shall be cast into "outer darkness," the symbol of utter destruction.

Preceding that work of execution there occurs in the Court of heaven the most solemn act in all the epoch of the history of man. It is that decision which fixes forever the destiny of every soul in the world, or that has ever been in the world. The prophet Daniel thus describes it:

"I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool; His throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him; thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him; the judgment was set, and the books were opened." Dan. 7:9, 10.

The Revelator pictures the scene in these words:

"And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; and death and hades gave up the dead that were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works." Rev. 20:11-13.

It has been a matter of choice, of confession or denial, all the way down through the ages. Men have been choosing Christ and confessing Him, or they have been choosing their own ways, and denying Him; and in this great and final tribunal they must reap the result of their choosing, whatever it has been. Every life that has been lived upon earth is recorded in heaven; every deed of every life is conspicuous there; and there is no hiding our record from the Judge who sits upon that bench to meet out rewards befitting the lives that have been lived. Confession or denial by us here determines whether it shall be confession or denial by our Saviour there, when our cases shall come in review. Which shall it be?

Continue reading: ENVIRONMENT NO EXCUSE FOR SIN